Jessica Smith arrested, found in woods days after dead toddler left in resort

The mother of a toddler found dead at a coastal Oregon resort has been taken into custody, authorities said Sunday night. (Aug. 4)

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Jessica Smith arrested facing murder charges in the death of her two-year-old toddler and the attempted murder of her 13-year-old daughter. Police have been searching for Smith since Friday when her toddler was found dead in an Oregon hotel room and her teen cut badly in the same room, according to Fox News live on Monday, Aug 4.

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Smith was found in a wooded area about 15 miles from Cannon Beach, where her dead toddler and daughter were found. She was arrested and remains in police custody. On Friday a housekeeper at a resort hotel had found Smith’s toddler dead and her teen daughter seriously injured. She had been cut, according to USA Today on August 4.

Smith and her husband had filed for divorce recently and Smith was due to hand the children over to the husband the day they found her toddler dead and teen hurt. The husband, who was never a suspect in the case, was cooperating with police in the search for his estranged wife.

The teen daughter was flown to a Portland hospital where she underwent surgery. She is still in serious condition, but she is expected to recover. Smith and her children lived in Washington State and came to Oregon, checking into the Surfsand Resort in Cannon Beach.

The police investigation turned up no signs of forced entry into the hotel room and nothing was out of place. They immediately named Smith as a “person of interest” and asked the public for help in finding her. She was driving a gold-colored Chevrolet Suburban with Washington State plates.

It is not known who spotted Smith in a wooded area, but police closed in and arrested her once she was spotted. The dead two-year-old was identified as Isabell Smith of Goldendale, Washington.

It is not known why Smith, who is 40-years-old, killed her toddler and caused such horrendous injuries to her teen daughter. The cause of the toddler’s death is not revealed, but police are calling this a homicide. She is facing murder for Isabelle’s death and attempted murder for the injuries on her teen daughter.

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Roz Zurko is a freelance writer originally from Milford, Conn. Today she writes from her home at the foot of the Berkshires in Massachusetts. Her articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers and online. She has been a guest author on BBC radio and her online articles are read by more than a million people each month.

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